JP2002374237A - Information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing method, by which an information provider provides information to an information referencing party, without having to authenticate the information referencing party in processing, where the information provider uses a computer to provide the information to the information referencing party, while ensuring the security of preventing pretence to be a legitimate party, tapping and counterfeit or the like. SOLUTION: The information provider informs an authentication agent which is a separate agency of the information and the information referencing party with the right to reference the information. The authentication agent generates an encryption key, by each information notified from the information provider and a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key, informs the information provider about the encryption key, and informs the information referencing party with the right to reference the information about the identifier of the information and the decryption key, corresponding to the encryption key. The information provider encrypts the information by using the encryption key, the information referencing party downloads the information of the information provider to its own computer and decrypts the information by using the decryption key to interpret the information. If a party, without a reference right of the information, downloads the information to own computer, the party will not be able to interpret the information since the referencing party has no decryption key corresponding to the encryption key encrypting the information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of providing information using a computer, and more specifically, to security of information provided by an information provider, which authenticates the information reference person and prevents leakage or alteration of the reference information. The present invention relates to an information providing method suitable for providing information that requires the following.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, computer-based information providing technology has been developed in such a manner that an information provider checks an information reference person as a person who has authority to refer to the information by referring to information referred to by the user. It also has an 'information providing function' provided to the user.

[0003] Regarding the "referrer authenticator function", when the information referrer attempts to refer to the information of the information provider, the identifier of the information referrer and the corresponding password are input. Using the identifier and the password, it is determined whether the information referrer has the authority to refer to the information.
Further, the information provider can authenticate the information reference person by using the technology of the electronic certificate.

[0004] As for the "information providing function", it is general that an information provider transmits reference data to an information referrer. In that case, encryption and signature techniques are applied to prevent information leakage and tampering by a third party during transmission.

[0005] Incidentally, digital certificate, encryption and signature technologies are described, for example, in "Latest Internet Technology (Nikkei BP)".
Company) 'Encryption and authentication mechanism to protect security'.

[0006]

In the conventional information providing method using a computer, the "referrer authentication function" and the "information providing function" are performed in one place. Therefore, for example, an information provider authenticates an information referrer only with his / her own computer, and then provides information to the authenticator. In such a case, when many information reference requests are concentrated in the same time zone, a computer with higher performance and more resources is required to exceed the processing capacity of the computer or to avoid such a situation.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, the 'referer authentication function' and the 'information providing function' are separated. The information provider notifies in advance the information to be provided and the information referrer who has authority to refer to the information to the certifier, which is another organization. The authenticator generates an encryption key for each information and a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key notified by the information provider, and assigns the encryption key to the information provider, the identifier of the information and the encryption key of the information. The decryption key to be provided is provided to the information referrer who has the reference authority to the information by performing authentication using, for example, an electronic authentication method. The information provider encrypts the information with the encryption key, the information viewer downloads the information of the information provider to his / her computer, and decrypts the information with a decryption key given by the authenticator. Decrypt. If a person who does not have the reference authority to the information downloads the information to his / her computer, he / she cannot decrypt the information because he / she does not have a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key that encrypted the information. This eliminates the need for the information provider to determine whether or not the information reference person is truly authorized to access the information, and can secure security such as prevention of spoofing, eavesdropping, and tampering. .

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. 1 which is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system for providing information from a manufacturer to a part maker to which the present invention is applied.

[0009] The information providing system from the manufacturer to the component manufacturer is a system in which the manufacturer provides the component manufacturer with information such as specifications on each part of the product to be manufactured. The parts manufacturers that can refer to each part information of the product are limited to several parts manufacturers that manufacture the parts, and the parts manufacturers should see the information other than the parts that they are authorized to see. Is not allowed.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which a manufacturer X provides information to a component manufacturer V. The computer 10 of the manufacturer X includes an encryption mechanism 11, a component information DB 12
have. The computer 20 of the certification organization Y has an electronic key generation mechanism 21 and an information reference authority DB 22.
The computer 30 of the part maker V includes a decryption mechanism 31,
It has a decryption key storage DB32. 40 is a network connecting 10 and 30. 50 is a network connecting 10 and 20. 60 is a network connecting 20 and 30.

Next, information providing processing by the present system will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Manufacturer X
Is the part ID'F of the part whose manufacture is requested to the part maker V
Create component information such as 1 'and specifications. (Step 10
1). Further, F1 notifies the certification organization Y that the component maker V has the reference authority by e-mail or the like.
(Step 102). Y uses the electronically generated key 21 to generate the encryption key CKF1 of F1 and the corresponding decryption key D
Create KF1. (Step 103). And F
1, an information reference authority record is created from CKF1 and DKF1, and registered in the information reference authority DB22. FIG. 3 shows the record format of the information reference authority record. (Step 10
4). Then, the encryption key CKF1 of F1 is transmitted to X, V is notified that V1 has the reference authority to F1, and DKF1 is transmitted. (Step 105). X is
Using the encryption mechanism 11, the CKF1 encrypts the component information of F1 and registers it in the component information DB 21 as a component information record. FIG. 2 shows the record format of the component information record. (Step 106). V creates a decryption key record from F1 and DKF1, and registers it in the decryption key storage DB32. FIG. 4 shows the record format of the decryption key record. (Step 107). Access the part information DB of X
Is downloaded to the part 30. (Step 1
08) (Step 109). And the decryption key storage DB3
2 to retrieve the decryption key DKF1 corresponding to F1, and use the decryption mechanism 31 to decrypt the component information of F1 and decrypt the component information. (Step 110).

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the information providing process by the computer, the information providing function and the authentication function are separated, and the information provider entrusts the authentication of the information reference person to the authenticator. Thus, the information can be provided to the information reference person without performing the procedure for authenticating the information, and security such as authentication, eavesdropping prevention and tampering prevention can be ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a record format of a component information record.

FIG. 3 is a record format of an information reference authority record.

FIG. 4 is a record format of a decryption key record.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an information providing process in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Computer of manufacturer X, 20 Computer of certification organization Y, 30 Computer of part maker V, 40, 50, 60 network, 11 Encryption mechanism 21 Electronic key generation mechanism, 31 Decryption mechanism, 12 Part information DB, 22 Information Reference authority DB, 32 decryption key storage DB.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 512 G09C 1/00 640Z G09C 1/00 640 H04L 9/00 601B H04L 9/32 675D 673A 601E F term (reference) 5B017 AA03 BA05 BA07 CA16 5B085 AE01 AE13 AE23 BG06 5J104 AA01 AA07 AA09 AA16 EA01 EA04 EA16 KA01 MA02 NA02 NA05 PA07

Claims (5)

[Claims] A person who provides electronic information processed by a computer to a third party (hereinafter referred to as an "information provider") refers to the information (hereinafter referred to as an information referrer). In the method of providing information, the information provider previously specifies an identifier of the information to be provided (hereinafter, referred to as an “information ID”) and an information referrer who permits reference to the information corresponding to the information ID. Information referrer
A third-party organization (hereinafter, referred to as a “certifier”) that authenticates the identity of the person is definitely notified, and the certifier sends, for each information ID notified by the information provider,
An encryption key for encrypting the information corresponding to the information ID and a decryption key corresponding to the information ID are generated, and the encryption key generated for each information ID is transmitted to the information provider who is permitted to refer to the information. Passes the information ID and a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key for each information ID, the information provider encrypts the information with the encryption key of the information, and sets a state in which a reference request can be received from an information referrer; The referrer receives the information referrer's authentication from the authenticator in advance, receives a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key of the information ID to be referred to, and then requests the information provider to transmit the information to be referred to. When the information provider receives the information reference request from the information referrer, the information provider transmits the information to the information referrer, and the information referrer receives the received information from the authenticator in advance. Recovery key corresponding to the encryption key An information providing method, wherein the information is decrypted by decryption using a key. 2. The information publishing method according to claim 1, wherein the functions of the information provider, the certifier, and the information referrer are provided in separate computers connected to a network. 3. The information disclosure method according to claim 1, wherein the authenticator inputs the ID and the password from the information referrer as a means for authenticating the information referrer. 4. A method in which a certifier authenticates an information referrer by using a digital certificate technique.
The information disclosure method according to claim 1 or 2. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when transmitting information from the information provider to the information reference person, an electronic signature technique for preventing the information from being tampered with is applied. Information disclosure method.